Filmmaking | Interviews | New Hampshire | Rhode Island
Festival Interview: Alfred Thomas Catalfo
Interview with Alfred Thomas Catalfo director of Rocketship, screening as part of the 2015 Online New England Film Festival.
Filmmaker Alfred Thomas Catalfo most definitely did not take the most traditional route to becoming a filmmaker. Rather than film school, he went to law school and became a personal injury attorney. But when he started writing feature scripts and winning screenwriting competitions, he decided to try his hand at directing. Since then, he’s written, produced and directed eight short films.
His film Rocketship, which you can now watch as part of the 2015 Online New England Film Festival has an impressive festival screening history – including winning numerous awards and screening at several national and regional festivals. It will also be showcased on the ‘big screen’ at ITVFest as part of the festival’s Screening and Awards event on September 26. Here, Catalfo talks about his inspiration for the film, his future projects, and advice for new filmmakers.
Filmmaker Alfred Thomas Catalfo most definitely did not take the most traditional route to becoming a filmmaker. Rather than film school, he went to law school and became a personal injury attorney. But when he started writing feature scripts and winning screenwriting competitions, he decided to try his hand at directing. Since then, he’s written, produced and directed eight short films.
His film Rocketship, which you can now watch as part of the 2015 Online New England Film Festival has an impressive festival screening history – including winning numerous awards and screening at several national and regional festivals. It will also be showcased on the ‘big screen’ at ITVFest as part of the festival’s Screening and Awards event on September 26. Here, Catalfo talks about his inspiration for the film, his future projects, and advice for new filmmakers.
NewEnglandFilm.com: What inspired you to make your film?
Alfred Thomas Catalfo: The inspiration for the film came from the rocketship sculptures of our friend, New Hampshire artist David Random, who fashions them from repurposed artifacts, primarily vacuum cleaners from the 1940s and 1950s.
David has a studio in Rollinsford, NH, on the top floor of a huge, old mill building that has been converted into artist spaces. That’s where we shot the scenes between the old astronaut and the boy. Every time I was up there, I would say, “This is a short film but I don’t know what story would be.” I’ve always been intrigued by the early astronauts and the space race, the whole “Right Stuff” phenomenon.
One of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, Deke Slayton, was grounded due to a heart condition (he then became head of astronaut selection for NASA and was finally cleared to fly on a Soyuz mission in the 1970s). So I pictured this mid-1960s Gemini astronaut who, like Deke Slayton, was lauded as a hero while he trained for his mission but was then grounded.
In our film, the astronaut never flew and eventually became an old man building rocketships out of antique vacuum cleaners with his young friend — a boy who looks up to him as the hero he once was.
NEF: What has your experience been like showing the film?
Catalfo: When we were at Mill Valley, the California Film Institute asked me to screen Rocketship at local schools and answer questions. One of the schools was for disabled and challenged kids and I found that they asked some of the most perceptive questions I have ever heard. It was a wonderful and humbling experience, and one of the most fun Q&As I’ve ever done.
NEF: How did you find your cast and crew for this film?
Catalfo: We’re a small group of filmmaking friends who have worked on several films together and help each other out. We found our lead actor, Russell Doucet, when I went to a New Hampshire Media Makers meet-up and mentioned that I was casting the role of a 10-year-old. Russell’s father, Eric Doucet, the founder of a local improv group, was there and suggested Russell. We auditioned five kids and Russell was amazing. He even showed up wearing a NASA shirt so he totally got it. He was fantastic to work with, always positive, upbeat and prepared.
NEF: What are you working on next?
Catalfo: I’m in post-production on A Split Ticket, a Twilight Zone-ish short film based on a true 1947 event in which newly-elected Congressmen John F. Kennedy (age 29) and Richard Nixon (age 34) travel to Pennsylvania where they must make a fateful decision.
NEF: Any advice on making films you want to share – about fundraising, working with actors, distributing, sending to festivals, etc?
Catalfo: Filmmakers sometimes focus on the technical aspects, which are important, but I think filmmaking is really about being being able to work well with people, communicate your vision to the actors and crew, and tell an engaging story with a beginning, middle and end.
Watch Rocketship as part of the 2015 Online New England Film Festival. It will also be showcased on the ‘big screen’ at ITVFest as part of the festival’s Screening and Awards event on September 26
