An Interview With Frankie Filmmaker James Kautz
James Kautz is the Founder of Red Seed Films and the Founding Artistic Director of the award winning, Off Broadway Theatre Company, The Amoralists. As an actor, Kautz has worked in television (HBO’s Vinyl, CBS’ Bull), NYC theatre, independent film and voice over. However he has recently stepped behind the camera to film his LGBT live-action short film Frankie. Frankie focuses on a non-binary transgender person who comes out to their ex-partner and his men’s codependency group. We grabbed a coffee with James to talk about his upcoming short.
Hi James, thanks for taking the time out to chat to us.
How have you been managing during the Pandemic?
Though it’s obviously been a difficult stretch for all of us, for the world, I feel very fortunate to have been healthy and safe through the pandemic. We’ve actually made two new short films over the last eight months, along with starting Frankie’s festival journey. So it’s been a super prolific year, thankfully.
It certainly sounds like you have been keeping yourself busy.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into filmmaking?
I began as an actor just scrapping it out in NYC and over the years became the Artistic Director of The Amoralists, an Off Broadway theatre company. So developing scripts, building teams, raising funds, it’s in my bones at this point. But making films has honestly always been my dream. I’m definitely a slow-burn type of artist and it took me a while to finally take the leap, get over my fear, and make a film. Now it’s all I want to do. It’s the happiest I’ve ever been as an artist.
That’s great you have finally made that leap and have been bitten by the filmmaking bug!
We primarily know you as an actor. What made you make the jump behind the camera?
After years of developing and bringing other people’s stories to life, I finally kind of admitted to myself that I had my own stories to tell. I took a writing class and remember feeling very much like an imposter in the room. For months. It wasn’t until I’d started imagining how I’d direct what I was writing that my confidence started to grow, and the prospect of hopping behind the camera became inevitable.
How have you found the experience writing and directing your own work rather than acting in someone else’s?
There’s nowhere to hide when it’s your script, your vision. When you’re an actor, you can hide inside a performance. The camera really comes to you. Your only responsibility is making sure that the inner world is alive and churning and it’s really up to everyone else to capture it properly. You can keep that inner world secret. As a writer/director there’s no hiding. It’s a very vulnerable space.
That is a good way of looking at it.
Do you think having the experience of an actor has helped you when it comes to directing?
Oh, absolutely. Films are stories about people, being and changing. After spending so much time as an actor, just living and working for years as this microscope for human behaviors, hunting for that human truth, I’ve come to realize those same muscles are core to directing. Acting has taught me how to hunt for that truth and directing has taught me how best to facilitate and capture it.
What was your inspiration behind Frankie?
A few years ago, I’d entered into a men’s codependency group. It was honestly the first time in my life I’d ever been in a space where cisgender men so openly shared their feelings. A common theme among all of us in the room was this idea that we’d denied our true selves in an effort to ‘stay safe’ in the face of someone else’s addictions and fears. My spouse Morgan, who is a Producer on Frankie and plays Frankie, was coming out as trans, non-binary at the time, and they were experiencing so many similar revelations. The commonality of that human need: to be seen and recognized despite someone else’s fear – that was the seed of Frankie.
Real life events tend to be the source of so many films.
How did you handle casting during the pandemic?
We were very, very lucky to have filmed in February of 2020, just weeks before the full weight and reality of the pandemic became known.
That was lucky!
Did the pandemic restrict the filmmaking process?
It didn’t affect filming, but it did affect post-production. Many of us on the team had been forced to move, so small things, like coordinating footage hand-offs, they became these logistic conundrums. But all in all, we were very lucky. I know many filmmakers, and artists, who weren’t as lucky.
Sounds like you were very lucky.
Is there anything you would do differently if you had to go through it again?
Frankie is my first film, as writer or as director, so there’s thousands of tiny little lessons that I’ve learned and have filed away for the next one. There’s no huge forehead-smacking-lesson, but a thousand little ones, for sure.
What has the reception been like for Frankie so far?
It’s been pretty humbling to be honest. Getting messages from folks who you don’t know but who have seen and been affected by your film… it’s the magic of this business. Genuinely. Connecting strangers through art.
It’s good to hear it has had such a good response.
Are you planning on making any more films in the future?
Oh god, it’s all I think about. Haha. The future is certainly alive and full of film ideas.
That sounds promising.
Are you looking to get back in front of the camera?
Absolutely. I’ll always be an actor, though I have grown a bit more selective of projects. Time is a real commodity these days.
Any advice to anyone looking to break into the industry?
It’s been said many times to me, but I’m only now starting to finally let it sink in: “to get there fast, take it slow.” I think if you focus on you, your craft, your mental and emotional health, making sure you have a full life, you’ll get to where you want to be in due time.
That is some solid advice.
Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
As I said, we’ve two new shorts in post-production at the moment, both dark, psychological thrillers that I’ve written and directed. And Morgan and I are actually growing Frankie into a feature, so lots on the horizon, for sure!
We will be looking forward to hear more about Frankie- The Feature film in the future.
What does the future hold for James Kautz?
I’m honestly happy-as-a-clam at the moment, building work I care about, with folks I care about. The goal I suppose, is to just keep doing that for the rest of my life.
That is really good to hear.
Well thanks for chatting to us James. We really appreciate it. Good luck with Frankie and your two upcoming shorts!
To find out more about James Kautz Click Here.
For more interviews Click Here.
