Post by Todd Tjersland on Jun 17, 2006 22:41:35 GMT -8
MISLED (1998)
aka MISLED: DROGENHOLLE CHICAGO (German VHS release)
Starring Gerardo Estevez, Theron "Touche" Lykens, Devon Nunnally
Music by John Dahlin
Featuring Songs by Tea Mac and The Low-Down Committee
Executive Producer Todd Tjersland
Written and Produced by Zeke Gonzalez
Directed by Zeke Gonzalez & Todd Tjersland
Summary: Charlie Torres (Gerardo Estevez) is one bad cop: He snorts coke, robs dealers and abuses his badge. He's not afraid to kill anyone who gets in his way. When he learns that local Chicago drug lord Papo (Devon Nunnally) is putting together a million dollar deal with the Cartel, he enlists the aid of his fellow rogue cops to take Papo down... Not for justice, but to steal the money and drugs for themselves! Naturally, things don't go as planned, leading to a violent warehouse confrontation between Charlie's bad cops, Papo's men, and the Columbians!
AN INTERVIEW WITH TODD TJERSLAND
Q: What is up with that crazy script?
Todd Tjersland: Zeke [the writer/director] told me it was written on the back of a cocktail napkin... He just kept shooting until he thought he had a 90 minute movie! He ended up with a three hour's worth of 16mm footage that didn't make any sense, at least to me or anyone else I showed it to... He ran out of money before he could finish shooting everything he wanted.
"Black" movies were hot at the time, so I was very keen to put something more commercial than, say, THE NECRO FILES, under my belt.
Q: This sounds like how you got involved with BACK FROM HELL.
Todd: Yes, it was very similar... Except BFH was a lot closer to being done; just a few cuts in the editing suite and it was ready to go. With MISLED, Zeke came to me because he needed to shoot some more footage and had no funds for post-production. In exchange for distribution rights, I agreed to fund the project. But, as months flew by and Zeke continued to drag the process out needlessly, it quickly became apparent that he needed to be fired...
Q: Why?
Todd: Well, to make a long story short, the straw that finally broke the camel's back was when I sent Zeke to put together a rough cut, and he came back with a 2.5 hour movie that made no sense. I said, 'try it again but get it closer to 90 minutes--I know there's a movie in here somewhere!' and the second cut he turned in was 3 hours long and made even less sense! WTF? At that point, I said, 'you're fired!' and took over completely.
I put a 90 minute cut together entirely on my own and got it to make as much goddamn sense as it ever would (which was just barely enough). I cut 90 minutes worth of footage! That cut changed very little from the time I handed it to the editor to the final edit. I supervised every last detail, from the edit to the $7,500 sound mix. Why so much sound work? Turns out Zeke had recorded a lot of the film's dialogue on his Sony Walkman...
I busted my ass trying to whip that picture into shape so it would get a good release.
Q: Did it?
Todd: Yes; I think so. Tanya York picked it up for North America & possessions for a nice sum. Her company, York Home Video, moved over 10,000 VHS units (including a Spanish-dubbed version) in early 1999. Sales to the UK and Germany nearly got me my money back...
"Black" movies don't sell well overseas. So the picture was lucky to do as well as it did. I did everything I could to drive sales. Unfortunately, Zeke was a rather difficult character to deal with. I want to make one thing perfectly clear: I never wanted to fire Zeke; he left me no choice. I had to protect the integrity of the picture and also my investment, which was substantial: upwards of $46,000, all told, at the end!
Q: What was the total budget, then?
Todd: Around $86,000, IIRC. Around $20,000 less than LEGION OF THE NIGHT and $56,000 more than BACK FROM HELL. 16mm is expensive to shoot and process; it's hard to complete a 16mm picture for less than $50,000. Now, why bother? Everything's going digital video.
Q: Sounds like this film was a total pain in the ass for you. Do you take away any good memories from it?
Todd: Well, I do try and learn from my mistakes... MISLED taught me that I was never going to invest in anybody's project ever again!
I also enjoyed my first experience licensing music from some very talented Chicago rappers, Tea Mac and The Low-Down Committee. Their music really added something to the soundtrack.
There were a few good scenes in the film (most of which are in the trailer, by the way), but I loved Theron "Touche" Lykens's performance as Papo's ruthless lieutenant, "Big Man." That guy was a joy to watch; he really chewed up the scenery. I often find myself quoting his best line from the picture, "You play pussy, you get f*cked." That not only sums up the plot of the movie, but covers my entire experience working on it!
