THE BOND Directed By Michael T. Connell

Indie Express: Tell us about your film?

My son, at age 32, had a wife, child and good job at a major law firm.  They had just bought a house and everything seemed normal.  Then “he” came out as a male to female transgender person, changed ”his” name to Mikayla, and  divorced “his” wife.  Mikayla is now an activist in the GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender} community.  The film looks at her tranformation though my eyes as a parent.

IE: How did you come up with the idea for the film? 

I had retired after a successful career as an attorney for a bank and decided to take a five week documentary production course at the San Francisco School of Digital filmmaking.  I had always  enjoyed making home movies and thought I would  learn a little more about the process.   After discussions with Mikayla,  I had originally thought that I would do a film on the history of the relationship between the gay and transgender communities.  However, my instructior, Stephen Kopels, said there were plenty of films from the perspective of the GLBT community, but none from the perspective of the parent of a transgender child.   I noted that I had no desire to move out from behind the camera and make myself the subject of the film, but he (and the other students) convinced me that I should try it.

IE: How did you assemble your production team?  

At the school they arbitrarily divided us into groups of 4 and we each worked on the films of the others.

IE: How did you find your cast?  

I looked in the mirror.  I wasn’t happy with what I saw – but the price was right.

IE: How long did the film take?  (From conception to final edit)   

Five weeks

IE: Tell us a little about your process of directing (writing) this film.  

The project was done in HD but I had a lot of old SD home movies and standard size photos that I wanted to use.  I decided that the best approach was to put me on one side or the other against a black background, and then to use the other side as a sort of palette for that material.

The lighting and camera work was mostly a team effort with all of us contributing ideas.

I had an idea as to the subject areas I wanted to cover, but I had noticed that I sometimes discussed them a little differently with different people as they asked the questions in different ways.  So I gave a very general  list of the subject areas to Marlene Sinicki, one of the other students, and asked her to ask me questions based on those subjects, and anything else she thought would be relevant.   She did a great job..    

IE: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?  

I frequently had to stop shooting because I became emotional.  Frankly I was a little surprised at that since I have usually been able to control myself in front of others.   In fact, I had the same problem when I was editing it. 

IE: Any particular moments from filming that stand out for you?  

The support I received from the other students, Marlene Sinicki, Michael Tronn, and Deb Archambault was something I valued very highly.

IE: Tell us about the film’s festival experience so far? 

Frameline is my first festival and it hasn’t been shown yet.  Frameline did ask me to sign a distribution agreement, which was completely unexpected.

IE: What are you most looking forward to at the festival?  

The intent of the film was to give a members of the GLBT community a little glimpse as to what their loved ones are going though, and to give them and their loved ones a little hope that the relationships can continue and grow.  If the screening has that effect on some people, then I will be happy. 

IE: What has been your most interesting Q&A so far?  What was your favorite question?  How was the dialogue afterwards? 

This is the first Q & A I have responded to.

IE: What films or filmmakers inspire you? 

Ken Burns.  His goal is to involve you in the film to the point where you feel emotion – to make you more than just a casual observer.   That was my goal as well.

IE: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?  

I love the ability to make people feel what I feel. 

 IE: What is next for you?  

I would like to do more in this area but the opportunities for someone my age seem limited.  As a consequence I have been willing to do projects for non-profits for free.

IE: What is next for the film? 

Frameline,, which has the distribution rights, intends to offer it for sale and  for screening at other festivals.  Since this is my first film I really do not know what to expect. 

IE: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be? 

Find something that you care deeply about and then film it.

IE: What question would you like to be asked about your film?  

Why did you use the clip of Mikayla running around the lawn in the introduction?

IE: What is the Answer to that question?

 Because when I think of Mikayla as a little child, I always think of that clip of a happy carefree little toddler.  Neither she, nor we, had any clue as to how the future would unfold.