Hollywood filmmaker proves the Net abounds

William Cleeland

Have you ever had a great idea? I’m not referring to a "next time I go to the store I’ll pick up some Cheetos" idea. I mean something you believe has never been thought of before, which could earn you millions of dollars, revolutionize society as we know it, make you famous and all that jazz. Maybe it’s a story you think would make a terrific movie or a talent you possess that few others do.

But then you give that idea up. Doubts begin to set in. "No one will ever go for it," you convince yourself. Even if they did, how the heck would you publicize it, not to mention raise enough cash to get things rolling?

Before the 1990s, it wasn’t so easy, but today you have a powerful vehicle at your disposal to get that idea out -- the Internet. Today 62 million people sign onto the Net regularly in the United States, and it’s believed up to 2 million people worldwide have created Web pages of various sorts.

Some are simple, brief glimpses into their lives. I’m sure you’ve seen the more trite ones -- people showing you weird photos of their pets and telling you, in great detail, about their tastes: "My favorite color is maroon; I love Thai food, and I have every original Star Wars figure except Greedo."

But others use their Web pages to promote themselves and their dreams -- resumes of the aspiring businessman, stories by the aspiring author, products of the aspiring inventor. You get the picture.

Mark Tapio Kines is one of those people. You probably haven’t heard of him yet, but you will. I’m no psychic (I’m not even a Gemini), but I predict one day in the not too distant future Mark will be a very successful player in Hollywood. And he’s going to do it, at least in part, with help from the Net.

You see, Kines is the writer and director of an upcoming independent film called Foreign Correspondents. It stars Corin Nemec (Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, The Stand), Wil Wheaton (Stand by Me, Star Trek: The Next Generation) and up-and-coming actress Melanie Lynskey, who starred with Kate Winslet in the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures. Set in California, Mark’s film tells the story of two sets of mysterious, romantic relationships.

From the beginning, Kines, who is a Hollywood Web designer, knew creating an Internet site would be crucial for his film’s success. Independent films, although in many cases superior to those big studio films in acting quality and storyline, face considerable obstacles -- publicity and financing chief among them.

The Net allows many filmmakers outside of the studio system to overcome those hurdles. As Mark told me in an interview, "I think it’s great because of its grass roots appeal. It costs next to nothing to make your own Web site. And with enough word-of-mouth, your little site could feasibly have a larger audience than some major corporation that pumps millions of dollars into their own site."

So about a year ago, Kines opened the Foreign Correspondents page on the Internet (www.forcor.com). Since then, the benefits have grown in leaps and bounds: About 40,000 people have visited the site since its creation, and a loyal following of over 600 Netizens receive regular updates about the film on an e-mailing list. According to Mark, on one weekend alone, his site got over 6,000 visitors after it was crowned the "Cool Site of the Day."

Why it got that honor is easy to see -- anyone with even a passing interest in the "behind-the-scenes" look at how films are created will be blown away by the site’s depth. It shows candid photos of the film’s actors, costume and make-up Polaroids of the characters, an outline of how certain scenes were planned and shot and even an exclusive diary written by one of the script supervisors. On the lighter side is the infamous "List of Nine" -- a roster of nine Hollywood insights or tidbits Mark updates biweekly, including "Nine Obscure Crew Positions Defined" and "Nine Secrets For the Budding Filmmaker."

In short, at Mark’s site you get an insider’s view of how a film is made and the people involved in that process. The actors become more flesh and blood than just names you read on a marquee. For instance, through photos and anecdotes, Wil Wheaton comes across as a lively, wacky mix of Jim Carrey and Bart Simpson -- unlike many of his more ectomorphic on-screen personas.

The Net helped Kines gain something else necessary for a film’s success: In Spain and places south of here they call it "dinero;" here it’s more commonly referred to as "moolah." Although he still could use some generous people to help out his film financially, so far Foreign Correspondents has garnered over $90,000 from investors who came across his Internet site. That’s not including people who sympathized with Mark’s plight and simply donated money or took advantage of an offer to buy photos of the film’s stars for a small price. Thanks to these efforts, at last word Foreign Correspondents should be completed early next year, once post-production (film editing, musical scoring and all that stuff) is finished.

All you need is three things -- a belief in yourself, a willingness to promote your ideas and a little patience. Mark did that, and his dreams are becoming a reality. You can do it, too.

Go for those dreams, people. The future won’t stay the future for long.

Mark Tapio Kines, the Art Director for Paramount Digital Entertainment, has designed and/or oversees numerous Web sites, including the official Web site for Paramount Pictures: www.paramount.com. The official Star Trek Web site: www.startrek.com. An IRS site for teens: www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/taxi/index.html.

William Cleeland will be on medical leave from the University next semester. Comments or questions about his column can be directed to di@illinimedia.com.