The 18th Annual Dances With Films Festival is currently underway at the TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood. The festival was formed in 1998 by a group of filmmakers who envisioned a festival where “who you know” didn’t matter, only the quality of the work. If you’re anywhere near Hollywood tonight, you should run, not walk, to see Edd Benda’s poignant film Superior. I’d put this film up against any independent film I’ve seen by much better-known filmmakers. I expect to hear a lot more from these folks.
During the height of the Vietnam War in 1969, Charlie (Thatcher Robinson) is on his way to Michigan Tech University, and Derek (Paul Stanko) is counting the days to his inevitable military draft eligibility. Before their futures take hold, the lifelong best friends embark on one final adventure: a 1,300 mile bike ride along the shores of the gargantuan Lake Superior. With two-speed Schwinn bicycles and limited preparation, Charlie and Derek pedal through the massive northern backwoods of Michigan, Minnesota, and Canada. Along the way they face hunger, exhaustion, and the kind of people in the world who never wanted to be found.
I sat down before Superior’s world premiere (Friday, June 5 at 9:30 pm the TCL Chinese Theaters) with writer/director Edd Benda, producer/cinematographer Alex Bell, and the film’s talented stars, Paul Stanko and Thatcher Robinson.
Danny Miller: What a beautiful film and such an impressive first feature. Edd, I assume you grew up in that part of the country?
Edd Benda: Yes, I did. I’m from Michigan and I spent most of my summers up along Lake Superior. My great-grandfather was a copper miner and that region was built on copper. The story in this film comes from my family. My father and his brothers were very adventurous — there wasn’t a lot else to do up there so they were always doing crazy things. And one summer, my Uncle Carl and his cousin, Dan, decided to go on this bike ride completely around Lake Superior.
Wow, I didn’t know that it was really possible to do that. Especially back then with those primitive bikes and no cell phones!
Thatcher Robinson: And really without many clothes or other comforts — they just went with the shirts on their back.
Edd: Yeah, and their sleeping bags and that was about it.
I wasn’t even aware that to ride around Lake Superior you have to go through Canada.
Correct. Back then things were a little bit more lax. They didn’t even have passports with them when they did that ride, just like Charlie and Derek.
Whoa. Today they’d probably be shot on sight!
Paul Stanko: No, not by the nice Canadians.
“I see Americans sneaking through the border! Kill them!”
Edd: (Laughs.) Probably. But that’s what drew me to this story, I found adventures like that so fascinating — done in a bygone era where such things were possible. The film is kind of a patchwork quilt of not only that bike ride but a lot of other stories I grew up with from my Dad and his brothers.
And the adventure is all the more poignant with the specter of Vietnam hanging over their heads.
Yes, that was something they grew up with. I didn’t want to make the film about that, but I wanted to acknowledge that this was reality of being a young man at that time. Back then it was the Vietnam draft, but throughout history and even today we all have struggles and uncertainties about our future.
Those were such stellar performances by you two. I totally believed you guys were best friends. Did you already know each other before you worked on this film?
Thatcher: Yes. Paul and I had the same acting teacher when we were at USC, a man named Joe Anthony, and we continued to study with him after school. I think we would both say that he changed our lives. So we went into this knowing we had the same philosophy about acting — and life. Edd knew that if we were going to be spending a month in a cabin together it would be good to have everybody on the same page. Paul and I could talk openly together about the process and what we were going through.
Edd: I first knew Paul and I always had him in mind for Derek when I was writing that part. He’s a very talented comedic actor. He has this amazing web series called Dick Hopper, Private Eye.
Paul: Thanks, Edd! You’re way better at plugging my web series than I am.
Edd: What I saw in Derek is a guy whose been pigeon-holed as the clown, he’s a young man who’s been kind of written off as someone who wasn’t going to amount to much.
As opposed to Mr. Golden Boy over here.
Right, in contrast to Charlie’s Golden Boy, exactly. I saw Derek as a young man who just needed an opportunity to define himself and to take some control over his life. What I tried to do in directing the film was to allow Thatcher and Paul to inject themselves heavily into who these two people were and their relationship.
Paul: One of the great things about this movie that I hope comes through is the authenticity of everyone in it. Thatcher and I are the only two actors in the film. Everyone else is a local from Michigan.
Wow, I wondered about that. So many great characters and they definitely seemed like the real deal. I grew up in that part of the world, too.
And working with non-actors is something you can screw up really easily if you don’t treat them with care and sincerity which Edd did. Using those people worked really well for the story. And it was such a gift and a privilege for us to portray these guys who were so close to our hearts.
The film is absolutely gorgeous to look at. And I imagine you weren’t working with a very big budget, to say the least?
Edd: No, we definitely didn’t have a lot of money but we had a strong network of people who wanted to help and wanted us to succeed.
Just the fact that you decided to do a period piece, set in the 1960s for your first film. Did people tell you it was nuts to attempt that?
Oh yeah, we got a lot of that! But I subscribe to the belief that whether you believe you can do something or that you can’t do something, you’re going to be right. When we started, I sat down with my producer and cinematographer, Alex Bell, and we said, “Can we really do this?” We both said, “Yes!” From that moment on, there wasn’t a moment where we felt this film wouldn’t succeed. We really believed it and we basically had to will it into existence by getting a lot of really great people involved.
Alex Bell: When we started, we decided we were going to make this happen no matter what. We shot for 21 days in Michigan. Everything we needed was there: beachfront, forests, period locations. Location scouting was very exciting — we just walked into downtown Calumet and found that amazing diner that looked like it was from that year. It had actually stopped operating decades ago and was boarded up.
Wow, it probably still had the 1969 calendar on the wall!
You joke but that was practically the case. Monique Thomas was our very talented production designer and she found this great wealth of period stuff. There were barns in the Benda family that were full of everything from period bikes to canoes to old football jerseys.
Paul: All that hoarding finally paid off!
And those period “short shorts” that you and Thatcher had to wear throughout the movie were really something.
Paul: Oh, that was a dream!
Thatcher: It was cold — and hot! And there were lots of bugs. But all of those bug bites and sunburns we sustained wearing those short shorts makes it look really authentic. All the sweat and dirt was real, believe me — no make-up there!
It seemed very real — too bad the movie wasn’t shot in smell-o-vision.
Paul: Thank Goodness. Everyone in the audience would be passing out.
I can’t believe you don’t have a distribution deal yet for this film, but I bet that will change soon.
Edd: I can’t wait for people to see this film. We’re aware that it’s super competitive to get independent films out there these days, especially films shot entirely in Michigan with people you’ve never heard of. So we just focused on making the best movie possible and telling the best story possible with what was available to us. I believe with all my heart that we’ve done that. I want everyone to see the amazing work of Paul Stanko and Thatcher Robinson. And I love working with Alex Bell and hope we continue to make films together, to show more of this beautiful country that we live in, to continue to tell compelling stories about people who inspire us, and to keep working with talented people like these guys. That’s my dream.