E.P.K.
If you've ever watched any sort of "promo" spot for movie, wherein actors are sitting in a chair, usually on set or near the set, you've watched an E.P.K. You see these sorts of videos in HBO's First Look or the Behind the Scenes DVD section of a film. In general, you sit the actor's down and pepper them with generic quotes about the film. The totality of every important cast/crew member's interviews becomes the Electronic Press Kit (EPK). This EPK is then sent to media outlets (E! Entertainment, TV Guide Channel, etc.) for them to use in whatever sort of fashion they want and again, ultimately used on the eventual DVD release.
Today, I wrote/directed the E.P.K.s.
The EPK crew arrived on set today (one sound guy, one camera guy) and setup their own rig near the set. I was always of the impression that these guys were sort of a two or three man production, complete with their own producer who sort of oversaw all of this stuff. WRONG. There was literally one camera guy and one sound guy, who were waiting on someone to provide them with questions. I was wandering around the set snapping photos when I happened to wander near video village where McKittrick and Darren (UPM) were hanging out. I heard Sean muttering, "God I hate dealing with EPK." Darren didn't seem too thrilled either. Apparently, the film's producers are often in charge of coming up with the questions to ask the cast/crew in these interviews. This probably explains the shitty softball questions ("Tell me more about the dresses you wear in the movie.") and the shitty answers ("Oh he is such a DREAM to work with.")
Anyway, Tucker suggested we just use the same master list of questions that I've been compiling over the course of production for use in my video blogs. So questions in hand I met up with the E.P.K. guys planning on handing over my list and getting back to stills. As it turns out, the camera guy admitted to being a bad interviewer ("I usually just stare at the camera and read the questions out of the corner of my eye") and generally being unfamiliar with the film and anything Tucker Max related. This sort of explains why most E.P.K. answers are lame- it's pretty tough to respond honestly to a camera man who can't even look you in the eye. So, I threw out the idea of stepping in and the camera guy seemed sort of relieved.
I ended up interviewing Meagan Fay first, which was nerve wracking because she's a pro and this was my first "professional" interview. (I mean the video interviews are cool, but it's a bit more informal and as of now, aren't on DVDs, TV etc.) But Meagan was wonderful, answered all my questions and endured the sweltering heat (even inside it was still around 85 degrees). Hopefully that interview ends well.
Next up was Keri (who by the way is stunningly beautiful in person and somehow even MORE gorgeous on screen). Her first words to me were, "FUCK, your interviewing me again." She'd had a VERY long day and it was nice to see she still had a sense of humor. I really haven't talked at length with Keri, but everytime has been a pleasure.
Up next was Jesse, who brought an acoustic guitar to the interview. I've been lucky enough to develop a very nice rapport with the three male leads and again it felt very much like a conversation with Jesse. After we wrapped up his interview, Jesse walked over to the extras area and gave an impromptu guitar performance. It was a very cool thing to do and somewhere down the line, I'll post pictures I snapped.
Last was Tucker and as is usually the case, the interview was so-so. I hadn't known I was going to be interviewing him (I was actually scheduled to interview Marike, our newest cast addition, but she didn't feel comfortable with an interview after joining the cast only 24 hours ago), so I generally sort of re-hashed questions Tucker had already answered, which predictably irritated him. I don't think he has fully grasped the idea of an E.P.K. and resented having to say the same stuff over and over, when in reality, this sort of information is exactly what media outlets want/need him on film explaining.
So that's in essence how an EPK works- another new experience for me.
Week two starts tomorrow.
Today, I wrote/directed the E.P.K.s.
The EPK crew arrived on set today (one sound guy, one camera guy) and setup their own rig near the set. I was always of the impression that these guys were sort of a two or three man production, complete with their own producer who sort of oversaw all of this stuff. WRONG. There was literally one camera guy and one sound guy, who were waiting on someone to provide them with questions. I was wandering around the set snapping photos when I happened to wander near video village where McKittrick and Darren (UPM) were hanging out. I heard Sean muttering, "God I hate dealing with EPK." Darren didn't seem too thrilled either. Apparently, the film's producers are often in charge of coming up with the questions to ask the cast/crew in these interviews. This probably explains the shitty softball questions ("Tell me more about the dresses you wear in the movie.") and the shitty answers ("Oh he is such a DREAM to work with.")
Anyway, Tucker suggested we just use the same master list of questions that I've been compiling over the course of production for use in my video blogs. So questions in hand I met up with the E.P.K. guys planning on handing over my list and getting back to stills. As it turns out, the camera guy admitted to being a bad interviewer ("I usually just stare at the camera and read the questions out of the corner of my eye") and generally being unfamiliar with the film and anything Tucker Max related. This sort of explains why most E.P.K. answers are lame- it's pretty tough to respond honestly to a camera man who can't even look you in the eye. So, I threw out the idea of stepping in and the camera guy seemed sort of relieved.
I ended up interviewing Meagan Fay first, which was nerve wracking because she's a pro and this was my first "professional" interview. (I mean the video interviews are cool, but it's a bit more informal and as of now, aren't on DVDs, TV etc.) But Meagan was wonderful, answered all my questions and endured the sweltering heat (even inside it was still around 85 degrees). Hopefully that interview ends well.
Next up was Keri (who by the way is stunningly beautiful in person and somehow even MORE gorgeous on screen). Her first words to me were, "FUCK, your interviewing me again." She'd had a VERY long day and it was nice to see she still had a sense of humor. I really haven't talked at length with Keri, but everytime has been a pleasure.
Up next was Jesse, who brought an acoustic guitar to the interview. I've been lucky enough to develop a very nice rapport with the three male leads and again it felt very much like a conversation with Jesse. After we wrapped up his interview, Jesse walked over to the extras area and gave an impromptu guitar performance. It was a very cool thing to do and somewhere down the line, I'll post pictures I snapped.
Last was Tucker and as is usually the case, the interview was so-so. I hadn't known I was going to be interviewing him (I was actually scheduled to interview Marike, our newest cast addition, but she didn't feel comfortable with an interview after joining the cast only 24 hours ago), so I generally sort of re-hashed questions Tucker had already answered, which predictably irritated him. I don't think he has fully grasped the idea of an E.P.K. and resented having to say the same stuff over and over, when in reality, this sort of information is exactly what media outlets want/need him on film explaining.
So that's in essence how an EPK works- another new experience for me.
Week two starts tomorrow.
posted by greg at 7:48 PM
1 Comments:
hi, this is jay .
i read your blog...very gud information...
thanks for sharing....
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