Hanging With A Friend
By Michael McGruther (@WriterMcG)
LOVELAND has a very dark past and he’s all of twenty years old, at most. But what he really wants to do is direct, and he’s finally finished his screenplay - his opus - but all he needs is financing and then dreams will at long last become reality.
Then a phone call from his past comes in. A past he’d like to forget and put behind him.
Loveland was a paid hitman and his services are needed again. The payoff will be big enough to finance his filmmaker dreams but the target is someone he personally knows and likes. And — he cannot say no. If he fails to do this hit, Loveland himself will become the target.
Hanging With A Friend is a truly authentic folk film written, directed, edited and starring Ignacio Santana. It was made for what looks to be almost nothing. Sometimes the sound is a little off. Yes there are odd moments when the two stars are in a scene in some public setting and pedestrians pass by causing them to end a conversation prematurely or to stop talking for a moment. This is par for the course of do-it-yourself filmmaking.
All of these amateur moments should be overlooked as hard criticisms and instead understood as the slow discovery of how to be a filmmaker by young people who clearly love the art form and have no reason not to start making films on their own.
This gets right to the heart of the Folk Filmmaking movement — films made for the people by the people — always low on budget, high on ambition and pure in intent.
Don’t watch a folk film expecting to see some brilliant execution of cinematic prowess. No, that’s not what it’s about. Folk Filmmaking exists because the tools and platforms exist which make it possible. When Apple rolled out the new iPhone 13 Pro Max and started the #HollywoodInYourPocket hashtag trending on social media, it was specifically for young talent like Ignacio to exploit and use to make films.
The creator economy is not the same thing as the influencer economy. The important distinction being that influencers are sophisticated high-tech Avon ladies, but folk filmmakers are creating a new narrative about the American experience.
It’s easy tho see that Ignacio was influenced by the films his generation grew up watching, but what makes a good character driven drama is tension and Ignacio delivers on this dynamic and it’s the reason I chose to review this film.
(SPOLIERS)
Loveland offers the lead role in his film to his friend Jackson who happens to be person he is supposed to kill. The tension is brilliantly mined as they stroll around on a location scout of where the scenes in the film could be shot (And also Jackson, who doesn’t know he’s got a hit on him) but does know that he is a bad person too because of a horrible decision while driving on a country road one night.
As they walk to Jackson’s execution they reveal their equally rotten pasts that both would like to escape and forget. Jackson states “What’s more important is who you are, not who you were.” And it changes Loveland. He makes a decision that is the opposite of his intent, but right in line with his desire to escape his past.
Ignacio Santana
Watch Hanging With A Friend with the eye of a talent scout and you’ll see the incredible potential and passion that folk filmmakers bring to the craft. You’ll also see that Hollywood can’t compete with the smallness that is inherent in most folk films.
The intimacy and nuance that’s missing from mass produced filmed entertainment is alive and well in folk filmmakers like Ignacio Santana. All he needs to do is keep going, keep improving and keep using the available tools to tell stories.
Kick back and check out Hanging With A Friend by clicking the video below. Or go to Ignacio’s YouTube page and click like or leave a comment. These small gestures help folk filmmakers stay the course of replacing the cold and data driven system with people who have hearts and souls.
