NewEnglandFilm.com

The world revolves around it. Many people would do anything to get their hands on it. But what would happen if it suddenly became worthless? The “it” is currency: the dollar, to be precise. Silver Circle, a new animated film from Cambridge, MA based Two Lanterns Media (aka Lineplot) takes a look at what would happen if the Federal Reserve was corrupt and inflation was beyond repair.

Directed by Pascha Roberts, the film was completed entirely in the Boston area. “Boston is a contender… the talent is here,” says Roberts when asked if the area could compete with animated films produced elsewhere. “There is a thriving community of people here willing to help.” Roberts has graciously taken time from promoting the film on the festival circuit to give us some insight on his career and on the production of his new animated feature.

K. Correia: With a degree in Economics from MIT, how did you get your start as a filmmaker?

Pascha Roberts: I really focused on national visualization for quantitative work. It is sort of a natural extension even though there is a story telling aspect to it. I started an animation studio to describe complicated national economic issues. When the 2008 crash happened we decided, “Let’s make a full length movie about this.” That’s how it all got started. I’ve always been interested in subjects, in economics, because it’s really about people and how people react.

KC: Is your film, Silver Circle, fundamentally about the relationship between people?

Roberts: Yes. It’s the story of what happens when there is a historic event; when a piece of currency dies, when the dollar dies, when the peso dies, whatever currency it is and it happens over and over again. It’s the story of what it would be like if it happened here in the future. It’s the story about this group of rebels fighting back.

KC: What was the process behind the filmmaking? How did you go about bringing together cast & crew?

Roberts: We’re in animation, so we had mixed the luxury of shooting the entire thing in the basement studio with a green screen across eleven days. We went to Boston Casting to get our cast and they were great. Especially our two heroes, De’Lon Grant and Philana Mia, and our two bad guys, Victor Shopov and Peter Berkrot, they did a great, great job.

The thing with animation is that people can play multiple rolls. Several of these people played multiple rolls, so we just changed the body up. They acted everything out. They had little cameras attached to their head so we could see every detail of what they were doing and then that was the basis for the animation. It took eleven days to shoot it and about two and a half years to animate their action into a movie.

KC: What do you hope the audience will take away with them when they see the film?

Roberts: The main thing, just as a storyteller, is I really hope they feel. That they laugh, they cry, that they have fun, that they identify with the characters, that they hate the characters. Those are my goals. That people have a good time.

Second, is that there are real economic concepts that are in here. They’re not so obvious that it’s wonky or stupid, but if people want to follow up and learn more about that, it’s definitely a good thing, but you really don’t have to do that to enjoy the movie. A lot of our core fans understand the economics so they have an extra level of appreciation of it, so that’s fun too.

KC: Where should people go for information on the film and find showings?

Roberts: Silvercirclemovie.com has a list of events. On July 1st we go out on iTunes, Amazon, and all kinds of cable channels.

KC: Can you tell us about any new upcoming projects that you are currently developing?

Roberts: We are already working on a sequel to the film. I have a story down as far as what happens with the characters and how they move forward. We are working on developing that script and raising money. We are trying out some other looks and trying out some twists with characters. We try to base it on things that are happening so as news develops, we weave it in. We are also looking at some other properties, some other comic books and books that would make interesting movies.