Interviews

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An Interview With Eric Latek
of Phantazma Pictures
By Steve Brachmann

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Sweet Dreams is Eric Latek's motion picture documentary which focuses its story around two characters: a boxer and a bookie. It's a movie filled with contradictions; the tough guy fighter who turns out to be a good family man, and the bookie who tries to rid himself of his nice guy image by immersing himself in the culture of Goodfellas and The Sopranos . It portrays the Italian-American culture, as well as the struggle for boxers' rights.

But arguably the best part about this movie? This complex, involving story began simply by trying to document a guy taking bets on boxing fights.

Sweet Dreams evolved from what now seems almost a whim by Latek to film an old friend who decided to become a bookie and see what interesting situations he'd find himself in. Latek then just happened to film a boxing match. The boxer just happened to love the fight clips, and Latek just happened to start documenting the boxer's life outside the ring. And throughout all of this, the formation of a boxing union just happened to occur. IIE was able to catch up with Eric Latek this past weekend to discuss the almost serendipitous nature of Sweet Dreams , among other things:

Image Icon Entertainment: What first got you interested in filmmaking as a career?

EL: I started more in art over at RISD. When I was 8 years old, I wanted to be a makeup artist with horror movies. I was fascinated with the makeup design in horror movies, so that's what I wanted to do. Once I got to school, it progressed into a mature foundation of film. It became more about telling stories and making good movies. But it all began with horror movies.

IIE: You've said that you've undergone a “whole new schooling” after you graduated from Emerson, because your expertise was in film but you decided to switch to digital video. What was it like to realize you had to learn a whole new system, and how long did that take?

EL: It was very scary. A lot of money had been spent on my education over at Emerson, and everything I had learned over there was film. But the digital revolution was occurring right around the time I was graduating, and part of me was worried that I wasted all this education on film. But most of what I learned with film translated right into the digital realm. It's different equipment, which is scary, but it's exciting because you learn something new every day. I had a hard crash course for a few weeks in editing and animation, both 3D and 2D. I could grasp the programs, but you really need to use them every day for a long time. I'm still learning as I go, and the programs are always growing, always getting upgraded. It took me a few months before I grasped the basics well enough.

IIE: You're the president of Phantazma Pictures. What made you decide to start up an independent film company, and how long did it take for the idea to go from concept to reality?

EL: It took many years, I'd say about three and a half, until we had our first feature under our belt. I needed to make a living doing what I do, and for that, I needed sponsors and clients, and that took a long time. I did it out of pure aggravation of the system; it's a real “who do you know” business. My thought was ‘build your own foundation and people will come to you'. It's a longer road, but a much better payoff, and you're your own boss. I didn't want to move my roots to Los Angeles or New York , because in the Boston area you stand out more if you have the goods. The technology today allows you to make a living without being in LA or NY.

IIE: Your bio describes you as being influenced by the art movement Cinema Verite'. What about this movement appeals to you, and how do you try to apply it in filming?

EL: It appeals on both the documentary and narrative fronts. Verite' is the cinema of observation and being passive. Normally, the stories of documentaries are pushed forward through headshots and interviews with certain individuals; the story gets molded through talking heads. In narrative, you don't need a person interviewed to push the story; Ben Affleck doesn't tell the camera in Good Will Hunting about how his friend may be a janitor but is really intelligent. You get that information through the art of observation and simple scenes constructed upon each other to build the story and characters. Sweet Dreams started off as a traditional documentary; typical headshot interviews were shot and conducted to display the story I was trying to get across to the audience. However, as time went on, I decided to throw away the conventions and to observe a story as it was happening. You're not trying to control the piece, the piece controls you. You need to let your guard down a little and allow yourself to not have full control.

IIE: What would you say is one of your favorite memories about your experiences in the film world so far?

EL: We premiered at the Full Frame Film Festival in Durham , North Carolina . It was the world premiere screening and I was very proud just to be there. However, I was petrified of having to sit in the theater when screening the film. I just wanted to step out and come back after it was done. But I watched as the movie was screened in front of 400 people, which made me extremely nervous because your whole heart and soul is sitting on a 50 foot by 50 foot cinema screen. After the film was done, I came up to the front of the theater to field some questions from the audience. The first question came out of the back of the theater, and he said “This isn't so much a question as a comment. Thank you for making that movie, that was stunning.” That immediately made all the work worth it. It's great to be able to affect somebody like that with your work.

IIE: Sweet Dreams is a motion picture documentary. Does documentary appeal to you more than a scripted narrative, or do you enjoy both modes of filmmaking?

EL: Oh, no, I love movies regardless of whether it's documentary or narrative. I fell into documentary by accident. I had written four screenplays, setting each at a higher budget; the first script was lower budget, the second script was a bit higher, and so on and so forth. Trying to sell a script is so difficult, trying to win the lottery might be easier. I just wanted to tell stories and put it up on a cinema screen. Then a digital camera with 24 frames came out, and I got excited because it wasn't as expensive as film, and it was less work, but the quality was similar. I decided to start filming with that. My cousin had a friend, Derek, who I knew growing up. My cousin and I were talking one day, and he told me that Derek was making money as a bookie in the Providence area. This was the same Derek I always new as a pretty nice kid growing up. To me, Derek was a real contrast: he was a nice guy that was trying to embrace this mafia image as a bookie. I started thinking, “What's going to happen where someone won't pay him, will he turn on the mafia persona?” I wanted to film that story, and that's how Sweet Dreams started.

IIE: How did Sweet Dreams evolve from this to having more of a focus on boxing?

EL: I met Gary Balletto probably about five or six months into filming Derek. Up until that point, I'd been filming Derek in the typical documentary approach to get a look into the Italian-American culture of the area and research what I felt was an identity crisis in the Italian-American generation of today. I was filming at a boxing event in Providence because probably 95 percent of the people there were Italian-American kids and adults; I was there more to document the audience, not the boxers. However, I filmed Gary 's fight while I was there. After the event, I was able to interview Jimmy Burchfield, Gary 's boxing promoter, still just focusing on the Italian-American culture aspect. I brought the fight clips there and showed them to him, he called Gary to come down and take a look at the film, which he did, and he loved it. He really caught my attention because I expected him to be this tough guy, but he was really soft-spoken, and he asked me if I'd put some of his fight tapes together as an editing gig. Much like Derek, he was a big contrast between the image of the tough guy fighter and this kind, gentle, soft-spoken guy. I talked with Gary and asked if I could document him, and he was fine with it. I didn't know where it was going to go; maybe because he was Italian too, it would fit with the project I had with Derek, focusing on the Italian-American culture. But for all I knew it could have been two different projects altogether.

IIE: Are there any other issues or social commentary in this documentary that you attempted to address, aside from the boxing union and the Italian-American culture?

EL: Those are the two things that really stand out. Another thing I tried to show was Gary as the hardworking man making a living; his character being defined by his blood, sweat, and tears. Derek had wanted an easy way out; Gary had been down that road before, but now works his ass off to make an honest living. That's what defines your character. That was an aspect that I was trying to feed into the audience: about people looking for a simple way out and not wanting to earn it or achieve something. I thought Derek was an example of that, but he changed his morality and way of thinking. He became an honest, hardworking guy. But I tried to show it in a way that's not preachy.

The most important part for people to remember is the fact that Derek and Gary are completely courageous to allow their imperfections to be displayed on screen for all the world to see. Derek had so much to loose and took a lot of risk, as well as heat from the inside, allowing me to film his illegal doings. To me, Derek is nothing but bold and brave, and I felt it was my job to make sure the best of his character stood out. I truly feel he is a role-model to those of his generation. We all make mistakes or choose the wrong path sometimes, but do we open ourselves up, learn and try to do better no matter how difficult the course? Not many do, but Derek did. And if Sweet Dreams is a national or international success, I know his story will make a difference in the lives of many.

IIE: Sweet Dreams , as you said, was shown at the Full Frame Film Fest. Will there be any other upcoming stops on the festival circuit for the film?

EL: We have at least five more lined up, but I can't say much about them until they're announced. We will be going overseas to Europe for one, however.

IIE: What are some of the upcoming projects that you're working on right now?

EL: Sweet Dreams really opened the doors for a lot of opportunities. I'm going to be talking at a convention in Vegas in front of an audience of about 5,000 about the movie, and then showing about ten minutes worth of the union aspect of Sweet Dreams . I'm meeting with Spike TV to do a reality series spin-off of the movie, kind of a Laguna Beach meets Swingers show revolving around Derek. Then we have an A&E docu-drama series on the boxing union and the Teamsters to give the audience a look into labor disputes.

Furthermore, we have been working independently on a television series entitled Hoss' Dreammachine. The show follows two men, Steve Hoss and John Jeanetti, both going through hard times such as divorce, and financial and business woes. Rather than turn their energy into a negative direction, which is easy, they try to spin it into a positive, traveling around the country, entering the lives of those less fortunate, and trying to make a positive impact. Through this process, they hope to start healing a little bit of themselves.

Eric Latek, Danny DeVito, and Hoss