Cornwall residents can support three of their own this weekend. Remote Films’ “Inverse” will be screening at the Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick St., New York, N.Y.
Describes writer and director Matt Duggan, “Inverse” is a science fiction film about a man who wakes up in a parallel universe and discovers no one, including himself, is what they appear to be. There are a number of nefarious forces who set out to do him in.
Duggan was born and raised in Cornwall, but didn’t attend Cornwall High School. Stephanie Bell, producer, graduated from Cornwall High School in 1982 while executive producer Jason Burnham graduated from Cornwall a decade later.
What makes the trio’s connection even more intriguing is Duggan and Bell are cousins and Duggan and Burnham have been best friends since kindergarten. They may have taken different paths throughout their career, but Bell and Duggan have been working on various projects since 1997, while Burnham is joining for the trio’s first project together.
Bell and Duggan grew up spending a lot of time together. After graduating from college, Bell, inspired by her love of the arts, went to acting school and moved to Los Angeles in 1997 to appear in a play. Her cousin had already been living there for a few years.
Duggan went to Boston College, where he majored in English and also studied acting. Upon graduation, he spent the summer in Cornwall working on a construction site, earning enough money to travel cross-country to California where he continued to study acting and writing. It was on the west coast Duggan began to dabble in directing.
The cousins reconnected joining a company called Secret Fools. Bell started producing for them while Duggan turned his attention to writing. Bell produced Duggan’s first two works, a play titled “False Positive” and a short film called “Tag.” From there they decided to start their own company. Remote Films focused on working with directors and writers who wanted to direct their own work.
“I think we all feel very lucky,” Bell said. “Matt and I being cousins we’re fortunate we grew up together and know each other very well. When I moved to L.A. we began to spend a lot more time together. We had a real trust, not because we were cousins, but we understood our creative processes.”
The cousins’ initial project under Remote Films was “The Devil of Appalachia.” Burnham was brought in to market the film, but when the economy collapsed in 2008, finding investors proved to be difficult.
“The investors suddenly became very wary and nervous about the fact I was a first time director,” Duggan said. “The funding was withdrawn from the project.”
Burnham has been in the marketing/advertising industry since 1995 with most of his career in digital marketing. He started one of the first digital media agencies and then sold the company, in 2005, to Horizon Media. Burnham has served as a strategic consultant on the Disney/Pixar film “Up,” as well as Miramax’s film “Adventureland.” Burnham has also developed marketing strategies for various television networks including Independent Film Channel, E!, A&E, History Channel, Biography Channel, Lifetime, and UPN.
“Being able to take all of that and bring it to life to help a buddy out has been really exciting to me,” he said.
“It seemed very organic and natural that we were working together,” Duggan said. “We just forged, at an extremely young age, an extremely close bond and friendship. It just seemed very natural and it made sense we’d be working together professionally. It makes things a lot easier when you have that kind of bond and trust.”
Needing a low-budget film, Duggan began writing “Inverse.” Eighty-three percent of the film was shot in the new home Duggan had purchased with his wife. In 2013 the film was completed and ready to introduce to the film festival market.
The film made its debut at the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival last year. The first screening sold out and a second was added. “Inverse” won Best Science Fiction Film at the CineVision Film Festival in New Mexico, as well as the Eugene International Film Festival.
The film’s strong run in 2014 has continued into the current year. After this weekend’s screening at the Philip K. Dick Film Festival, the trio will head south to the Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival.
TO GO
To attend this weekend’s screening, visit thephilipkdickfilmfestival.com. The film’s trailer can be found at inversethemovie.com.
FUTURE
Films the trio plans to work on include “The Devil of Appalachia” written and directed by Duggan, “Parrothead” written by Trevor Boelter and directed by Duggan, and “Jacky Beefkhakis” written by Karni Baghdikian and Duggan and directed by Baghdikian.
